New Issues: Jersey Post commemorates Old Motor Club, USPS launches three series at World Stamp Show

On June 7, Jersey Post will issue an eight-stamp series celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Jersey Old Motor Club.

The stamps, each of which measure 30 mm by 40 mm, were printed using offset lithography. A miniature sheet was also issued with the series, which was designed by the London-based agency Interabang using photographs by Jersey photographer Andy Le Gresley. The miniature sheet features a photograph from the 1969 Boxing Day Run, an event that remains the club’s most popular.

“The stamps feature cars belonging to members of the Jersey Old Motor Club,” explained Rachel MacKenzie, Jersey Post’s philatelic marketing manager. “We wanted to show a variety of makes and colours and have included cars ranging from a green 1902 Gladiator Tonneau to a red 1948 MG TC. Andy was tasked with capturing the cars in different locations around the Island and in the backgrounds of the stamps you will see some of Jersey’s most beautiful coastal spots as well as iconic landmarks such as Grosnez Castle, La Rocco Tower and Noirmont Point.”

From its establishment in 1966, the focal point of the Jersey Old Motor Club’s calendar has been the staging of rallies and other events at which members can exercise their cars. The very first, described as an “outdoor gathering,” took place on Nov. 6, 1966.

Membership numbers, and the number and scope of events, continued to increase during the 1980s and ’90s, culminating in the 1999 centenary celebration of the first Jersey motor car. Leading up to the forthcoming milestone, current club president Stephanie Constantine can boast the club’s highest ever membership as well as more than 300 historic vehicles on its register.

USPS issued this souvenir sheet of six commemorative Forever stamps dubbed ‘Classics Forever’ on June 1.

WORLD STAMP SHOW

Yesterday, today and tomorrow, in conjunction with the weeklong World Stamp Show, the United States Postal Service (USPS) is issuing more than 30 stamps across three series.

The first series, issued June 1, came as a souvenir sheet of six commemorative Forever stamps dubbed “Classics Forever”. This “elaborately designed” sheet was issued in celebration of the long history of U.S. stamps—”and in appreciation of stamp collectors and philatelists everywhere,” according to the May 12, 2016 edition of the Postal Bulletin. The sheet features new versions of six of the earliest and most alluring U.S. stamps issued as Forever stamps to make them easily distinguishable from the mid 19th-century originals.

The intaglio-printed designs featured are George Washington (1851, originally 12 cents); Benjamin Franklin (1851, originally one cent); George Washington (1860, originally 24 cents); George Washington (1860, originally 90 cents); Abraham Lincoln (1866, originally 15 cents); and Benjamin Franklin (1861, originally one cent). The selvage features postal cancellations and script from envelopes “contemporaneous with the stamps.” This is set against background with a “textured look to evoke stationery of the period.” Eric Madsen created the artwork for the selvage, and art director Antonio Alcalá designed the issuance.

This pane of 16 stamps commemorating the centennial of the U.S. National Parks was issued today by USPS.

The next series, issued today, features 16 stamps on a pane commemorating the centennial of the U.S. National Parks. According to the USPS, the National Park System consists of more than 400 park sites, and the stamp pane, designed by Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, Mary., includes 16 stamp images featuring existing art or photography representing the regional diversity of the National Park System.

“All stamps show national parks or plants, animals, artwork, objects and structures found in or associated with a national park. Small type on the margin of each stamp indicates the park’s location.”

Tomorrow, USPS will issue its “Colorful Celebrations” series of 10 stamps.

Kessler arranged the stamps on the pane in relation to their locations around the U.S.: Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve on the upper left; Maine’s Acadia National Park on the upper right; Hawaii’s Haleakalā National Park on the bottom left; and Florida’s and Mississippi’s Gulf Islands National Seashore on the bottom right.

Lastly, tomorrow, USPS will issue its “Colorful Celebrations” booklet of 20 “First-Class Mail Forever” stamps. The offering includes “10 digitally created designs with eye-popping patterns that showcase geometric shapes, flowers, and birds,” according to the USPS.

The stamp designs are available in four colors: blue, orange, purple or fuchsia. Papel picado, an intricate art form that was developed in Mexico, inspired artist Atzin Gaytan’s digital designs. The Spanish term papel picado translates to “peckered paper.”

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